Flying-machine



Patented May 3, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

//v VE/VTDR E M. PM L EAU M. RILLEAU. FLYING mAc'muE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 12, 1917- I V 1,376,584. Pamnted May 3, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F. M. RILLEAU.

FLYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY I2I 1917. 1,376,584. Patented y 3, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

xx R hairs!) star"- OFFICE.

' renters in. BILLEAU, or sen rnancrsoo, cenrronma.

FLYING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Extent.

Patented May 3, 1921.

Application filed July 12, 1917. Serial No. 180,083.

invention being to provide a machine of this character which, when oncestarted and having attained a sufiicient elevation, will continue itsflight indefinitely without the.

exercise of any propulsive force, except when there is no wind in anydirection.

A further object is to rovide a machine which, under all conditions ofwind and 'weather, will fly with a minimum amountof propulsive force.

A further object is to provide a machine which can be readily adjustedso as to obtain the requisite propulsive force for flight by causing itto glide through the air.

A further object is to provide a flying machine in which the sustainingmeans may also be used as propellers.

A further object is to provide a machine which will have great liftingpower in proportion to its weight. y

In the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a plan view' of my improvedmachine in different positions, the wings and tail being shown in dottedlines; Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section thereof; Fig. 3 is atransverse section of a portion of a wing; Fig. 4 is a front end viewthereof; Fig.5 isa broken plan view of a portion of a wing; Fig. 6 is abroken plan view of another portion thereof; Fig. 7 is a broken planview of a detail of the interior of the machine; Fig. 8. is a detailview illustrating the connection to certain feathers to turn the latterfor steering purposes.

1 indicates the hollow bod or car'of my improved flying machine. frame 2and a covering 3 of, water tight fabric. The frame compriseslongitudinal members 4 at the bottom of the frame, of which there may besix in number, longitudinal membersfi at the top of the frame, of whichthere may be two in number, longitudinal side members 7, of which theremay be attached on each. side of the frame four in number, andtransverse members 8 cont consists of :t

necting said longitudinal members, of which there may be eight innumber. These members are all tiedtogether by oblique ties 9 of cord orwire. .The covering 3 covers the whole frame except that, in the top ofthe body, there are provided front and rear doors 1]., l2.

Nhen on the ground the body is supported by a central rear wheel 13 andtwo front wheels 14. The shaft of the rear wheel 13 is mounted in thelower ends of a forked stem 16, extending downward from the body. Theshaft'of each front wheel 14 is supported in bearings 17 secured inframes 18 in the forms of circular arcs. The greater part of each. frame18 is inclosed in an extension 19 of the water-tight canvas covering(Fig. 4), the joints of which coverings around the circular frame piece18 are made water-tight by suitable rubber packing or the like. Withthis construction, therefore, the body is able to floaton the water. infloating on water," however, the frames 18 are turned from a position inwhich they are depended vertically to a position in which they extendhorizontally, and for this purpose they are. provided with inwardextensions 21 through the sides of the body, which can be maintainedeither in their vertical or in their horizontal positions by means ofhooks 22, 23, secured to the inner sides of the wall of the body.

Suspended from the top of saidbody by front and rear pivoted hangers,'24, 25, is a curved support or floor 26, upon which is supported, bystruts 27, a floor 28 upon which is supported a rear motor 29,preferably an internal combustion'engine, supplied with fiuid fuel froma tank 31 by a pipe 32 leading to a carbureter 33, and a pipe 34 eadingfrom the carbureter to the internal combustion engine. Adjacent to thefly wheel 35 of said engine (Fig. 7) is r the other ends of which areconnected to levers 51 pivoted at intermediate points 52 to frame pieces8 of the machine, the upper ends of said levers being connected to theends of links 54, the other ends ofwhich are connected to bars 55, 56,connected pivotally with the forward portions of what 1 term' feathers57. Thus, when said ring 44 is oscillated by the rotation of the engine,the forward portions of the feathers are also oscillated.

Each feather comprises a stem 58 which consists of thin elliptical disks59, having cut therein, for the sake of lightness, holes 61, and havingextending longitudinally across the edges thereof, rods 62, here shownas eight in number, three being at the top of said disks, three at thebottom, and one at each end.

To said rods are connected, as shown at 63, transverse upper and lowerrods 64, 65, (Fig. 3) connected at their front ,ends, as

shown at 66, and strengthened by interposed pieces 67. The rear ends ofthe lower'rods are attached, as shown at 68, to intermediate portions ofthe upper rods 64; Said upper and lower rods are also connected by cords69. All of these rods are connected with each other by oblique tie wires71, and the frame thus formed is covered with light sheet material 72,such as silk or light canvas, to form a feather. feathers on each sideare made of greater length than the inner feathers,'and on this accountthe outer terminal portions of said outer feathers are reduced in width,as shown in Fig. 6.

All of said feathers are pivoted, as shown at 73, upon a frame piece 74extending transversely across the flying machine and supported byoblique struts 75,76, 77, 78, and also by the central frame. This framepiece 74 is constructed in like manner as, but on a larger scale than,the stem- 58 of each feather, that is to' sa it is composed, at

suitable intervals; of t in elliptical disks 79, the edges of which areconnected. by transversely extending rods 81. Each'main, or upper,feather passes over the upper side of this frame 74, -while asupplementary or lower feather 82, constructed like the upper feather,passes under and in contact with the under side of said frame 74, andboth upper and lower feathers are pivoted to said frame at 73. A wire 84is attached to the front end of each feather, also to the under side ofthe frame at a point 86 and also to a point 87 in the rear portion ofthe feather. Both the upper rods 64 and the lower rods'65 are made oflight wood, and are therefore yield- The five outer ing enough to givethe feathers the desired elasticity, the cord connections 69 enablingthe lower and the upper portions of a feather to approach each otherunder the influence of air pressure. The pressure of the air currentsagainst the under side of each feather, either in ascending ordescending, causes the flexible rear portion of the feather, behind themain frame, to bend up- Ward and automatically propel the ship forward,it being apparent that an upward pressure on saidupwardly and rearwardly inclined portions will impart a fortend around pulleys 98, andare attached respectively to ends of a rod 99, on each.

side, pivoted to the frame piece, which rod is attached to the sixthfeatherv from the end, so that saidfeather can turn about its axis withthe movements of said wires. Thus either feather can be turned about itsaxis independently of the other so as to cause the air ship to turn, orboth can be turned at the same time so as to cause the air ship to stop.

Connected to the forwardv end of the swinging frame 45, as shown at 101,is a rod 102 which passes through a 100 103 attached to a lever 92 andmay be adjustably connected to said lever by a series of holes 106 insaid rod. This arrangement acts as a stabilizer, for, if the forwardpart of the air ship tilts downward, then the swinging frame swingsforwardly and v causes thelever 92 to swing upwardly. For

attached to said lever 92 is a cord 107 passing around pulleys 108,109,111, and connected to the lower end of the axle 110 of the wheel 48, towhich wheel is attached the front endof an elevating rudder 112, pivotedat 113 at the rear end of the body frame, so that the rear portion ofsaid elevating rudder is raised thereby, tending to raise the front endof the air ship. The axle 110 of the wheel "48 is suspended by pivots114 attached to the front ends of arms 116, the rear ends of which areattached to the front ends of shafts 117. Conversely, should .the frontportion of the air ship unduly tiltupward, then, in like manner, bymeans of a cable 118 passing around pulleys 119,121, in the upperportion of the body and attached to the upper end of the axle 110 of thewheel 48, the

front end of the rudder is caused to ascend incense pressing the frontportion of the air ship and counterbalancing its tendency to rise. Ifthe aviator wishes to dispense with the automatic stabilizing device, hedisconnects the rod 102 either from the swinging frame or from the lever92 so as to leave said lever free to be moved by hand.

Around the lower wheel 89 extends a cable 123 which extends aroundpulleys 12%, 126, and is attached to opposite sides of the wheel 28 sothat by pulling the cable 123 on one side of the wheel 48, said wheelwill be moved to one side of the air ship and the portion of the upperdirection rudder 127 in front of the upper shaft 117, will move in thesame direction as the wheel, while the rear portions of both upper andlower direction rudders 127, 128, turning with shafts 117, will move inthe opposite direction, and thus cause the ship to be directedhorizontally.

130 indicates guns projecting forwardly and rearwardly respectively ofthe air ship and in position to be fired by the aviator.

F or initialpropulsion of the flying machine there is provided apropeller 131, ex-

tending forwardly from the front end of the flying machine, and having ashaft 132 operated by an engine 133, which may be of any suitablecharacter.

To enable access to be conveniently had to the wings and upper part ofthe fiyingmachine, there is provided a central frame in having a lonitudinally, extending shaft 137.

It will be seen, particularly with reference to Figs. 2, 3 and i, thatthe feathers are of a warped or twisted shape, and from Figs. 1 and 2 itappears clearly that the feathers are disposed obliquely with referenceto the longitudinal axis of the machine, the feathers of different wingsbeing of opposite slant. It will be understood that all those feathersthe front ends of which are connected with the same stabilizing bar 55or 56 will be rocked at the same time about their pivots 73 when suchbar is moved by the mechanism described above,

I claim:

1. In a flying machine, a frame piece ex tending across the machine, aseries of feather-like sustaining devices pivotally attached to saidframe piece on each side of the machine on vertical axes, an enginecarried by the flying machine, and means operated by said engine forsimultaneously oscillating said sustaining devices.

2. In a flying machine, in combination with a body, means connected withsaid body for attaching thereto sustaining devices, a series, on eachside of the machine, of sustaining devices pivotally connected to thesaid means and. spreading out rearwardly from their front ends, andmeans, on each side of the flying machine, for tilting a device aboutits own axis.

3. In a flying machine, in combination with a hollow body, a framesuspended from said body, and swinging therein, an aviator seat and amotor carried by said frame, a reciprocating link operated by saidmotor, a frame extending adjacent to said seat and connected with saidreciprocating link, a link adjustably secured to said frame, a wheelconnected to said last-named link, sustaining devices extendingrearwardly from said body and pivotally supported thereon, and meansconnected withsaid wheel and with said. sustaining devices whereby saidsustaining devices are oscillated by the movement of said wheel.

4c. In a flying machine, in combination with a hollow body, a framesuspended from said body, and swinging therein, an aviator seat andamotorcarried by said frame, a reciprocating link operated by saidmotor, a frame extending adjacent 'to said seat and connected with saidreciprocating link, a link adjustably secured to said'frame, a wheelconnected to said last-named link, sustaining devices extendingrearwardly from said body and pivotallv supported thereon, meansconnected with said wheel and with said sustaining devices whereby saidsustaining devices are oscillated by the movement of said wheel, Wheelsfor supporting said body, frames supporting said wheels and extendingfrom said body, and water'- tight coverings for said frames.

5. In a flying machine, in combinationwith a hollow body, a framesuspended from said body, and swinging therein, an aviator seat and amotor carried by said frame, a

- reciprocating link operated by said motor,

a frame extending adjacent to said seat and connected with saidreciprocating link, a

said body and, pivotally supported thereon,

means connected with said wheel and with said sustaining devices wherebysaid sustaining devices are oscillated by the movement of said wheel,wheels for supporting said body, frames supporting said wheels andextending from said body and pivotally connected therewith" so as to beable to extend therefrom either vertically or horizontally.

v 6. In a flying machine, in combination with a hollow body, a framesuspended from said body, and swinging therein, an aviator seat and amotor carried by said frame, a reciprocating link operated by saidmotor, a frame extending, adjacent to said seat and connected with saidreciprocating link, a link adjustably secured to said frame, ,a

.wheel connected to said last-named link, sussaid sustaining" deviceswhereby said sustaining devices are oscillated by the movement of saidwheel, wheels for supporting said body, frames supporting said wheelsand extending from said body and pivotally connected therewith so as tobe able to extend therefrom either vertically or horizontally, and meansfor supporting said frames either in a horizontal or in a, verticalposition.

7. Ina flying machine, in combination I with a hollow body, a framesuspended from saidbody, and swinging therein, an aviator seat and amotor carried by saidframe, a

reciprocating link 0 erated by said motor, a frame extending a jacent tosaid seat and connected with said reciprocating link, a link adjustablysecured 'to said frame, a Wheel connected to said last-named link,sustaining devices extending rearwardly from said body and pivotallysupported thereon, means connected with said wheel and with saidsustaining devices whereby said sustaining devices are-oscillated by themovement of said wheel, and means for engaging or disengaging said motorat will from said mechanism.

FRANCIS M. RILLEAU.

